Thursday, December 27, 2012

New Year’s Resolutions can really change things

by Craig Ruvere

As the holiday season comes to a close, the start
of a new year is on the horizon.

For many of us December 31st is synonymous with
gatherings in Time Square – where a star-studded ball makes its 70 foot decent
before thousands of onlookers cheer “Happy New Year!” at the stroke of
midnight.

But the start of a new year should mean more than
just purchasing a new desk calendar. It should be a time to reflect on the
previous year and re-evaluate where we’re going in the future.

The beginning of a new year has become one of the
world’s oldest holidays. It all started with the Babylonians, who first
celebrated the day some 4,000 years ago. And though the timing and practices
have been altered some over the years, it’s still a cause for celebration to
millions of people all over the globe.

The Babylonians are also credited with creating a
tradition that’s still practiced today – the New Year’s resolution. A typical
Babylonian resolution might consist of returning borrowed farm equipment to
your neighbor, but times have changed and the resolutions have evolved to
include more applicable staples such as losing weight or quitting smoking.

When trying to define the word “resolution” such
statements include “a resolving to do something” or “a course of action
determined or decided on.” But when you truly think about what the New Year’s
resolution truly represents, it’s nothing more than an alteration of our
habitual behaviors.

Take a minute then to reflect on the fact that we
turn to one day of the year to alter the way in which we carry ourselves
through this world. It begs the question why changing those nasty habits is not
something that occurs all year long.

Survey’s have indicated that the most common New
Years’ resolutions year after year are to get more physically fit, quit smoking
or drinking, get out of debt or get more organized. Sound familiar? But the
reality is that New Years’ resolutions have become trite and meaningless –
typically expiring a few days after they’re pledged.

Society is just not willing to commit to
resolutions that hold any real value for anyone – including ourselves it
appears.But why do
resolutions not consist of something more substantial – something more valuable
to not only our life but the lives of those around us?

Why do you never hear people resolving to abolish
prejudices against those different than us? Is that not as important as losing
a few pounds? Why not resolve to respect our neighbors as we would ourselves?
Certainly tolerance can’t be that hard to carry out through the year. And what
about our children? Isn’t it about time we tried to reestablish the guidance
that so many young people are missing today instead of allowing them to follow
the cookie-cutter molds the media creates?

Aren’t these pledges worth raising a glass to at
the beginning of a new year? Shouldn’t they hold greater validity than a string
of broken promises that many of us forget we even made? Or is the New Year really
just about changing the calendar?

The beginning of a new year brings to all of us the
element of hope that anything is possible. In fact centuries ago it was
believed the start of a new year should coincide with Spring – a rebirth of
nature signaling a rebirth within ourselves. But even though our new year
begins on the 1st of January, it’s still a time for a new beginning, a time of
excitement when dreams and imaginations tend to dance around even the most
cynical of hearts.

But what if we could truly change things? What if
we used this time of reflection to make a difference in a world so reluctant to
see beyond their own needs and desires? Maybe then peace would truly be
something our children might see in their future; hatred would be limited to
lima beans; and technology would be something benefiting our lives rather than
running them.

There is undoubtedly a way to make things better in
life – it just depends on how much of our own habitual behaviors we’re willing
to compromise in order for everyone to prosper.

We’re only given one life on this earth, and I
can’t imagine wasting our short time here not trying to make things better. So
this year no matter where you might be when the clock strikes midnight, I ask
you to make your resolutions wisely for just maybe, together, we can change
things.